Health officials in L.A. County reported another 40 more deaths due to coronavirus, making it the largest single-day increase in number of fatalities since the pandemic began.
Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the director for the County's Public Health Department also reported another 670 cases, bringing the county's total to 10,047.
Ferrer said the newly reported deaths today increased the county's total to 360, and again raised the local mortality rate to 3.6%. That percentage has seen a steady rise since April, when it was measured at 1.8%.
At least 25 of the newly reported deaths were in people aged 65 or older. At least 17 of those 25 had underlying health conditions. Nine of the deaths reported today were people aged 41-65, five of whom had existing health conditions.
No other data was offered on the other six cases.
The county is also investigating cases in dozens of institutional settings, including nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, jails and prisons. A total of 64 cases have been confirmed in the county's jails, 11 inmates and 53 staff members. Another 29 cases have been detected in prisons, with 19 inmates and 10 staffers having tested positive for COVID-19.
Of the more than 10,000 cases in the county, at least 26 were homeless people.
Health care workers have also been vulnerable to the disease. Ferrer said today there have been at least 787 cases confirmed among health care workers, with one-third of those testing positive nurses. At least three health care workers have died since the pandemic began.
The number of confirmed cases around the Southland include:
- Los Angeles County: 10,047 cases - 360 deaths
- Orange County: 1,283 cases - 19 deaths
- Riverside County: 1,751 cases - 50 deaths
- Ventura County: 317 cases - 10 deaths
- San Bernardino County: 977 cases - 31 deaths
- San Diego County: 1,847 cases - 47 deaths
Statewide, there are more than 24,438 cases with at least 732 deaths reported. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, there are more than 604,652 cases nationwide with the death toll reaching 25,316 by Friday afternoon.